Insulating storage container

ABSTRACT

The subject application is directed to an insulating product storage container. The container is a double-walled cup, including an inner cup member and an outer cup member, with the inner cup member sized to fit within the outer cup member. A heat-insulating space is formed by the interior surface of the outer cup member and the exterior surface of the inner cup member. The inner and outer cup members further each include a circumferential lip protruding outwardly with respect to the interior of the double-walled cup. The lips of the inner and outer cup members are welded together so as to form a sealed insulating space thereby.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/867,473, filed on Nov. 28, 2006, theentirety of which is incorporated herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The subject application is directed to an insulating product storagecontainer that insulates a product from an outside environment as wellas insulating an end user from the product inside the container. Inparticular, the subject application is directed to an insulating foodstorage container capable of being used for both cold and hot food.

Foods, both hot and cold, typically require storage in a temperaturesuitable to maintain the nature of the food product. Ice cream generallyrequires storage at temperatures ranging from −16° C. to −4° C.,depending on percentage of water concentration. Hot foods, such as soupsand teas, can reach 100° C. In the retail setting, merchants often sellindividual servings of food products, which are distributed to theconsumer directly from much larger containers. This is a time-consumingproposition, requiring the employment of a dedicated server or dispenserat a place of business. Various methods have been used to overcome this,including packaging the product in individual containers. Thecomposition, design, and functionality of these containers rests on thedisposable nature of the container, the ability to stack and de-nestthese containers, and the ease and expense of manufacturing and fillingthe container. Unfortunately, some products have relatively low meltingpoints, losing product cohesion, such as ice cream. A consumerpurchasing an individually packaged serving of ice cream is expected toingest the product prior to the product melting. Merely holding theproduct results in the transfer of heat from the consumer to theproduct, increasing the rate at which the product melts. The inverse isalso possible, as when a hot soup transfers heat to the hand of the enduser, causing discomfort. Various attempts have been made to overcomethese problems. A first method involves the use of STYROFOAM containers,which have insulating properties. The problems associated with STYROFOAMinclude low structural integrity and rigidity relative to cost and size,and the material's inability to be effectively integrated intocontemporary filling machinery. A second method involves the use ofpaper containers of various thicknesses, so as to provide a greaterbarrier against the transfer of heat to the product or from the product.Unfortunately, paper products are increasingly expensive and are proneto absorption of the product. That is, as the product melts, the paperabsorbs some or all of the moisture inherent to the product. The paperabsorbs even more moisture when the paper container is used for liquidproducts. Various coatings may be used to prevent this absorption, butthese coatings add to the expense and fail to overcome the heat transferproblems noted above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the subject application, there isprovided an insulating product storage container that insulates aproduct from an outside environment as well as insulating an end userfrom the product inside the container.

Further in accordance with one embodiment of the subject application,there is provided an insulating food storage container for cold food.

Still further in accordance with one embodiment of the subjectapplication, there is provided an insulating food storage container forhot food.

Yet further in accordance with one embodiment of the subjectapplication, there is provided an insulating food storage container forfrozen food.

Still further in accordance with one embodiment of the subjectapplication, there is provided an insulating product storage containercomprising a double-walled cup, including a first cup member and asecond cup member adapted for nesting inside the first cup member. Thedouble-walled cup further comprises an insulating space and a topopening. The insulating space is formed by at least a part of aninterior surface of the first cup member and at least a part of anexterior surface of the second cup member.

In accordance with one embodiment of the subject application, each ofthe first cup member and the second cup member further comprises acorresponding circumferential lip protruding outwardly with respect toan interior of the double-walled cup. The corresponding circumferentiallips are positioned generally adjacent to the top opening of thedouble-walled cup. At least a part of the lip of the first cup member isadhesively engaged with at least a part of the lip of the second cupmember, thereby forming a sealed heat-insulating space.

Further, in accordance with one embodiment of the subject application,the sealed heat-insulating space is formed by welding of at least a partof the lip of the first cup member and at least a part of the lip of thesecond cup member.

Still other advantages, aspects, and features of the subject applicationwill become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing description, wherein there is shown and described a preferredembodiment of the subject application, simply by way of illustration ofone of the best modes best suited to carry out the subject application.As it will be realized, the subject application is capable of otherdifferent embodiments, and its several details are capable ofmodifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from thescope of the subject application. Accordingly, the drawings anddescriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject application is described with reference to certain figures,wherein:

FIG. 1 a is side view of an insulating product storage containeraccording to one embodiment of the subject application;

FIG. 1 b is a top view of an insulating product storage containeraccording to one embodiment of the subject application;

FIG. 1 c is a cross-sectional view of an insulating product storagecontainer according to one embodiment of the subject application;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a top portion of an insulating productstorage container according to one embodiment of the subjectapplication;

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a bottom portion of an insulating productstorage container according to one embodiment of the subjectapplication;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an insulating product storagecontainer according to another embodiment of the subject application;and

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a stack of insulating product storagecontainers according to one embodiment of the subject application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The subject application is directed to an insulating product storagecontainer that insulates a product from an outside environment, as wellas insulating an end user from the product inside the container. Inparticular, the subject application is directed to an insulating foodstorage container capable of being used for both cold and hot food,including frozen food. It will become apparent to those skilled in theart that the insulating product storage container described herein issuitably adapted to a plurality of various fields employing insulatingcontainers, including, for example and without limitation, foodpreparation, food storage, product advertisements, or the like. Thepreferred embodiment, explained in greater detail below, is applied to afood storage and display field for frozen food items including, forexample and without limitation, frozen ice cream, flash frozen products,and other products that require heat insulating packaging. Thus, thecurrent example embodiment is not a limitation of the subjectapplication solely to such a field.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c, there are shown a side view, atop view, and a cross-sectional view, respectively, of an insulatingproduct storage container 100 in accordance with one embodiment of thesubject application. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art,the insulating product storage container 100 is capable of storing afrozen product, such as, for example and without limitation, ice cream,custard, ice, pudding, gelatin, or the like. As shown in FIGS. 1 a, 1 b,and 1 c, the insulating product storage container 100 includes adouble-walled cup 102. The double-walled cup 102 includes a first cupmember 104 and a second cup member 106. The second cup member 106 isadapted for nesting inside the first cup member 104. The double-walledcup 102 further includes an insulating space 108 and a top opening 110.The heat-insulating space 108 is formed by at least a part of aninterior surface of the first cup member 104 and at least a part of anexterior surface of second the cup member 106.

Each of the first cup member 104 and the second cup member 106 furtherincludes a corresponding circumferential lip 112, 114, respectively. Thelips 112, 114 protrude outwardly with respect to the interior 116 of thedouble-walled cup 102 and are positioned generally adjacent to the topopening 110 of the double-walled cup 102. At least a part of the lip 112of the first cup member 104 is adhesively engaged with at least a partof the lip 114 of the second cup member 106, thereby forming the sealedheat-insulating space 108. The latter will be illustrated in greaterdetail below with respect to FIG. 2.

The sealed insulating space 108 is preferably formed by welding a partof the lip 112 and a part of the lip 114. As will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, welding is capable of being performed, forexample and without limitation, by means of ultrasonic welding, spinwelding, vibration welding, IRAM laser welding, linear vibration,orbital vibration, and hot plate welding. The sealed insulating space108 is capable of being filled with an insulating material, such as, forexample and without limitation, air, noble gas, or other gaseousmaterial having insulating properties, as will be known in the art.Other suitable seals, such as induction or conduction seals, are equallycapable of being implemented in accordance with the subject application.As shown in FIG. 1, the double-walled cup 102 further includes acircumferential shoulder 118 protruding outwardly with respect to theinterior 116 of the double-walled cup 102. The shoulder 118 ispositioned generally adjacent to the lip 112 of the first cup member104. As will be explained in greater detail below with respect to FIG.5, the shoulder 118 provides for stacking of the double-walled cup 102when shipping and packaging in an empty state.

In accordance with one embodiment of the subject application, the firstand second cup members 104, 106 are manufactured using any plasticmolding methods known in the art including, for example and withoutlimitation, thermoforming, injection molding, extrusion molding, blowmolding, vacuum molding, dip molding, or any other manufacturingtechniques known in the art to be capable of forming plastic intosuitable shapes. It will be understood by those skilled in the art thatthe type of molding used to form the first and second cup members 104,106 may depend upon the material selected for the first and second cupmembers 104, 106. Furthermore, the skilled artisan will appreciate thatthe method of manufacture for the first cup member 104 may differ fromthat of the second cup member 106 so as to enable faster production,meet different thickness requirements or rigidity standards, or thelike. Preferably, the first and second cup members 104, 106 arecomprised of a relatively inexpensive material so as to render such cupmembers 104, 106 disposable and/or recyclable.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a detailed view of a top portion200 of an insulating product storage container according to oneembodiment of the subject application. Shown in FIG. 2 are a lip 202 ofa first cup member 204 and a lip 206 of a second cup member 208. Furthershown in FIG. 2 are an upper side portion 210 of the lip 202 of thefirst cup member 204 and an underside portion 212 of the lip 206 of thesecond cup member 208. Part of the underside portion 212 of the lip 206rests on a part 214 of the upper side portion 210 of the lip 202 and isadhesively engaged with it. As will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art, a sealed insulating space 216 is thereby formed. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the configurationsillustrated in FIG. 2 are for example purposes only and are not intendedto limit the subject application.

Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a detailed view of a bottomportion 300 of an insulating product storage container, according to oneembodiment of the subject application. Shown in FIG. 3 are a first cupmember 302 and a second cup member 304. As shown in FIG. 300, the firstcup member 302 includes a center portion 306 that is raised with respectto a periphery portion 308 of a bottom portion of the first cup member302. Further shown in FIG. 3 is a portion of a sealed insulating space310. The raised center portion 306 has a truncated conical shape, asillustrated in FIG. 3. However, as will be appreciated by a skilledartisan, the raised center portion 306 is capable of having any othersuitable shape. It will be understood by those skilled in the art thatthe configurations illustrated in FIG. 3 are for example purposes onlyand are not intended to limit the subject application. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other bottom designs arecapable of being implemented in accordance with the subject application.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a cross-sectional view of aninsulating product storage container 400, in accordance with oneembodiment of the subject application. As will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art, the insulating product storage container 400, thesame as the insulating product storage container 100 illustrated in FIG.1, is capable of storing a frozen product, such as, for example andwithout limitation, ice cream, custard, ice, pudding, gelatin, or thelike. The insulating product storage container 400 is also capable ofstoring a hot product, such as a tea and the like. As shown in FIG. 4,the insulating product storage container 400 includes a double-walledcup 402. The double-walled cup 402 includes a first cup member 404 and asecond cup member 406. The second cup member 406 is adapted for nestinginside the first cup member 404. The double-walled cup 402 furtherincludes a heat-insulating space 408 and a top opening 410. Theinsulating space 408 is formed by at least a part of an interior surfaceof the first cup member 404 and at least a part of an exterior surfaceof the second cup member 406.

As will be recognized by a skilled artisan, other elements of theinsulating product storage container 400, not shown in detail in FIG. 4,are capable of implementation analogous to that described above withreference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. It will be further understood by thoseskilled in the art that the configurations of the insulating productstorage container 100 and 400, shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, are for examplepurposes only, and the subject application is capable of implementationin any of a myriad of shapes and dimensions. In the insulating productstorage containers 100 and 400, the double-walled cup 102, 402,respectively, has an inverse truncated conical shape. However, othersuitable shapes are equally applicable without departing from the scopeof the subject application. Suitable shapes include, for example andwithout limitation, trapezoidal, rectangular, square, triangular,hexagonal, pentagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, or the like. A skilledartisan will further appreciate that the overall dimensions of theinsulating product storage containers 100 and 400, as well as dimensionsof any parts of respective containers, are solely for illustrationpurposes. Any other suitable dimensions and relationships betweenelements and parts of the insulating product storage containers 100 and400 are capable of being implemented without departing from the scope ofthe subject application.

Turning now to FIG. 5, there is shown a stack 500 of insulating productstorage containers according to one embodiment of the subjectapplication. The stack 500 includes insulating product storagecontainers 502, 504, 506, and 508. Each of the insulating productstorage containers 502, 504, 506, and 508 includes a correspondingcircumferential shoulder 510, 512, 514, and 516 protruding outwardlywith respect to the interior of the respective double-walled insulatingproduct storage containers 502, 504, 506, and 508. As show in FIG. 5,the circumferential shoulders 510, 512, 514, and 516 advantageouslyallow stacking of the insulating product storage containers 502, 504,506, and 508. For example, the shoulder 510 of the insulating productstorage container 502 rests on the welded lips of the insulating productstorage container 504, the shoulder 512 of the insulating productstorage container 504 rests on the welded lips of the insulating productstorage container 506, and so on. A skilled artisan will appreciate thatthe stack 500 suitably allows for convenient shipping and packaging ofthe insulating product storage containers 502, 504, 506, and 508 in anempty state. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, thestack 500 including four insulating product storage containers 502, 504,506, and 508 is presented herein for illustration purposes only. Thestack 500 is capable of including any suitable number of insulatingproduct storage containers conforming to respective storage and/orpackaging facilities.

With respect to embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, thematerial of at least one cup member is, preferably, characterized by alow thermal conductivity. More preferably, the material is athermoplastic material, such as, for example and without limitation,polypropylene, poly-styrene, polyester, polyethylene, or any suitableplastic material known in the art. The skilled artisan will appreciatethat other materials are capable of being used to construct either thefirst cup member or the second the inner cup, or both. It will befurther understood by those skilled in the art that the size of thedouble-walled cup, i.e., the dimensions associated with double-walledcup, are capable of being varied in accordance with the application,e.g., product, stored therein.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the foregoingembodiments of an insulating product storage container enabledistribution and storage of frozen articles, such as ice cream, withoutallowing heat from the consumer to be transferred through the container,thereby melting the frozen article. The foregoing embodiments of aninsulating product storage container further enable individualdistribution and storage of hot food products and cold food products,such as soups and teas, both hot and cold. The latter is particularlyadvantageous with respect to individual servings pre-packaged forretail, such as would be employed at grocery stores, sporting events,concerts, amusement parks, theme parks, and the like.

The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the subjectapplication has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the subjectapplication to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications orvariations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodimentwas chosen and described to provide the best illustration of theprinciples of the subject application and its practical application tothereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to use the subjectapplication in various embodiments and with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications andvariations are within the scope of the subject application as determinedby the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadthto which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.

1. An insulating product storage container comprising: a double-walledcup including: a first cup member, a second cup member adapted fornesting inside the first cup member, an insulating space, and a topopening; wherein the insulating space is formed by at least a part of aninterior surface of the first cup member and at least a part of anexterior surface of second the cup member.
 2. The insulating productstorage container of claim 1: wherein each of the first cup member andthe second cup member further comprises a corresponding circumferentiallip protruding outwardly with respect to the interior of thedouble-walled cup and positioned generally adjacent to the top openingof the double-walled cup; and wherein at least a part of the lip of thefirst cup member is adhesively engaged with at least a part of the lipof the second cup member, thereby forming a sealed insulating space. 3.The insulating product storage container of claim 2, wherein the sealedinsulating space is formed by welding of at least a part of the lip ofthe first cup member and at least a part of the lip of the second cupmember.
 4. The insulating product storage container of claim 3: whereinat least a part of the underside portion of the lip of the second cupmember rests on at least a part of the upper side portion of the lip ofthe first cup member; and wherein the sealed insulating space is formedby welding of the resting underside and corresponding upper sideportions of the corresponding lips of the first and second cup members.5. The insulating product storage container of claim 1, wherein thematerial of at least one of the first cup member and the second cupmember is characterized by a low thermal conductivity.
 6. The insulatingproduct storage container of claim 1, wherein the material of at leastone of the first cup member and the second cup member is a thermoplasticmaterial.
 7. The insulating product storage container of claim 1,wherein the insulating space between the at least part of the exteriorsurface of the second cup member and the at least part of the interiorsurface of the first cup member is filled with an insulating material.8. The insulating product storage container of claim 1, wherein a bottomportion of the first cup member comprises a center portion that israised with respect to a periphery portion of a bottom portion of thefirst cup member.
 9. The insulating product storage container of claim8, wherein the raised center portion has a truncated conical shape. 10.The insulating product storage container of claim 1, wherein thedouble-walled cup has an inverse truncated conical shape.
 11. Theinsulating product storage container of claim 1, wherein thedouble-walled cup is implemented as at least one of the group consistingof disposable and recyclable.
 12. The insulating product storagecontainer of claim 1, wherein the product is a food product.
 13. Theinsulating product storage container of claim 12, wherein the foodproduct is selected from the group consisting of a hot food product, acold food product, and a frozen food product.
 14. The insulating productstorage container of claim 1, wherein the double-walled cup is adaptedfor stacking for shipping and packaging in an empty state.
 15. Theinsulating product storage container of claim 14, wherein the first cupmember further comprises a circumferential shoulder protruding outwardlywith respect to the interior of the double-walled cup that is positionedgenerally adjacent to the lip of the first cup member.